Tail Light & Brake Light Problems

[smartass1]

I thought I had a tail light out so I switched bulbs from the other side to test if it was the bulb. Then both of my bottom brake lights went out but my tail lights went on. The brake lights work but only if the the lights are put into the second position with the head lights off. What the heck is going on here???? The light bulbs are not bad.

Do these lights work from a computer that has gone wacky?

Help!


Barry

[Dunerunner]

Probably a grounding issue but one the dealer should fix.

[Evilution]

Fit a pair of new bulbs, twin filament bulbs can cause some strange problems if they go wrong.

[ultrajim49]

I thought I had a tail light bulb out on the passenger side of my smart. I went to the evilution website to see how to replace it. The directions explained how to remove the plate that holds "3" bulbs. I followed the directions and removed the plate and only found "2" bulbs. I thought one bulb had come loose and fell into the light fixture, but I couldn't find a loose bulb.
I then removed the plate on the driver's side and found the same thing... only "2" bulbs. At this point I'm guessing they used the same bulb holder as was in the 450 which did have 3 bulbs.

I'm still trying to figure out why my passenger tail light is darker than the one on the driver's side. It almost looks like a small part of the tail light that would reflect light from the bulb is missing at the bottom of the tail light; there's an open space on the bottom of the light. Has anyone noticed a difference in their tail lights? You have to get very close to the tail light to notice this as the bulb is working fine but the top half of the tail light is brighter than the bottom half.

Looking forward to hearing back from some who may have figured this one out already.

[Suzanne31381]

I'm having intermittent tail light problems that, alas, don't remain the same long enough for me to figure out what's going on. One of the front parking lights works intermittently, too. Then suddenly the hatch lift no longer holds it up and the hatch electronic opener doesn't unlock, though the other functions of the key work well. This is electric weirdness I hope I can find someone to solve soon. Sorry I have no answer for you; just commiserating! ;)

[SmartDigger]

sounds like a possible loose or corroded ground. The bulbs should be the same. unless something in the lens is not right.

[Ken Boothe]

Make sure you’re using the right bulb. The turn signal and brake light is a dual element bulb with two small tits on the bottom of the base, The backup bulb is a single element bulb with one tit in the middle of the bottom of the base. If the single element Backup bulb is installed in the stop tail socket the single tit goes between the two pins in the socket and effectively shorts the tail and stop lights together and can cause all kinds of weird things to happen. The guide pins on the side of the bulb base should make it hard to put the wrong bulb in but it’s still possible to install them in the wrong socket.
Ken